Years after residents raised concerns, testing finds elevated toxins near Thomas Street

That's what the latest round of testing in the Wausau neighborhood shows, and the next step is a plan

A number of years ago, during the Mayor Robert Mielke era, Thomas Street area resident Tom Kilian often spoke at city meetings.

There has been a tension through city hall meetings about whether environmental contamination in the Thomas Street area.

Experts from the state department of health told residents that there was no indication that levels were dangerous to humans. That while residents in the neighborhood relayed numerous incidents of cancer, at numbers that raise concerns.

Some testing over the years has lent credence to the idea that residents in the Thomas Street corridor might have had a point.

But this week city leaders were presented with an environmental Phase II report that involved testing of the area around Thomas Street. And it turns out, in one of the areas tested, workers found levels of dioxin at higher levels than is considered safe.